Perez qualified ninth and made his way to fifth on the road on a weekend team-mate Max Verstappen won both the Sprint and main Grand Prix to further extend his points lead.

Perez’s dip in form at recent races has been a cause for concern for Red Bull as its target of achieving a one-two in the Drivers’ championship appeared to come under threat from Lewis Hamilton.

However, Hamilton was disqualified from the results for excessive plank wear promoting Perez to fourth and extending his points lead to 39 over the seven-time champion in their battle for runner-up.

When asked if he felt he was in contention for the win at his home Grand Prix this weekend, Perez revealed how he and the team had inadvertently made things worse for themselves.

“The gap in Austin was a lot smaller than what it really showed,” Perez explained to media including RacingNews365.

“Finishing P5 in the race, I think we were all within a tenth, maximum two-tenths and I think we just lost some direction with the Sprint event.

“But we definitely made some good progress and we understood the data and a very good few days of work in the factory.

“We went really deep on the detail and we understood a lot of things.

“We were trying to compensate for our issues and were actually making things worse, so I believe that we are back in contention [this weekend for the win].”